Lou Cheng heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the referee's voice. The sharp pain in his left shoulder, the trembling of his body, and the spasms of his head surged into his mind at the same time.
Looking at Huang Ke standing outside the line like a javelin, looking at the rows of spectator seats behind him, looking at the dense crowd, Lou Cheng suddenly felt a little emotional. He recalled the first time he saw this "Gun King".
That was when he represented the Ice God Sect at the Haixi Sect to return the favor before the new year of his sophomore year. Back then, Huang Ke was as quiet and inarticulate as usual, but his aura was concealed. Just his gaze alone was enough to send chills down one's spine.
Four years had passed without him realizing it. If it had been him back then, no, even if it had been him before the Warrior Sage Battle, who hadn't experienced many intense battles, today's result would have been the other way around.
Unfortunately, time was the most ruthless. Even a Physical Invulnerability Mighty One couldn't contend with it. Forty-five and forty-nine years old didn't seem to make much of a difference, but in reality, only one would know if it was hot or cold when drinking water. One was still at his peak, while the other was slowly declining, especially in terms of mental recovery.
Since ancient times, beauties were like famous generals, never to see the world grow old … Lou Cheng lamented inwardly. Enduring the discomfort in his body, he bowed to Huang Ke solemnly.
To the Spear King of a generation.
At this moment, he understood the desire of top-notch Physical Invulnerability experts for the Forbidden Domain. No one wanted to watch themselves weaken bit by bit. No one wanted to feel the slow but uncontrollable deterioration of their once vigorous spirit and powerful body. No one wanted to experience the fact that what used to be possible was now difficult and impossible to accomplish.
The more powerful one was at their peak, the more severe the sense of loss, fear, and helplessness.
Only by entering the God's Domain could one maintain all this until death befell them.
Huang Ke regained his indifferent expression and returned the bow. Then he walked back to the arena and came to the side of the Ice Chi Spear that had bounced off the ground.
He didn't use the tip of his foot to pick up the spear, nor did he use techniques like the Ice Spirit Holy Light. Instead, he slowly bent down, grabbed the shaft, and lifted it up.
Patting it twice, he carried the Ice Chi Spear on his back. Step by step, he walked past Lou Cheng toward the exit. His spine was straight as usual.
"Time and tide wait for no man …" Lu Yan, who was watching from the VIP box, sighed.
He was only a few years younger than Huang Ke. In another two or three years, he would inevitably embark on the same path, so it was inevitable that he would feel some empathy.
He wasn't the only one. Although Kirin, Dong Baxian, and God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan, seemed to have gained a new lease of life in the past two years, they were already 43 or 44 years old. If they couldn't make a breakthrough in five years, they would end up like Spear King and Lion King.
The blade of time made one grow old!
Of course, it wasn't easy to achieve a taboo. Ever since Lin Zhongxun passed away, Elder Mei was the only one in the entire Hua Nation who could achieve such a taboo.
Ten years ago, the Warrior Sage, Qian Donglou, had been labeled as a taboo in the future. However, he still hadn't reached that level yet.
Of course, he and the Dragon King were publicly acknowledged as potential taboos. They might be able to break through in three or five years. As for Dong Baxian, Lu Yongyuan, and the rest, they still had hope, but it was definitely not high.
As for those who could maintain their peak after 50 years, there was only one in the past few decades, and that was the Master of Shushan Study, Sword King, Wu Qiao. Even so, he only participated in title matches twice a year at most.
Empress Luo, Ning Zitong, who was waiting for the match, shook her head and lamented in the private lounge.
"Gun King" had done almost everything he could, but he still lost in the end. Firstly, he lost because he was old and couldn't maintain his peak performance for too long, especially when it came to details like mental recovery. Secondly, Lou Cheng was indeed a super-class fighter in actual combat. He could always catch people off guard and find the key points. More terrifyingly, he was still very young. He still had enough room to grow!
How would the Dragon King evaluate this match? How would he evaluate the Spear King and Lou Cheng?
"Don't know yourself, don't know your enemy," Chen Qitao said slowly as he stood at the entrance of the VIP suite.
He had finished his match long ago and had come to watch the match after treating his injuries.
"Don't know yourself, don't know your enemy …" Lu Yan repeated it twice and knew that the Dragon King was referring to the Spear King, Huang Ke.
It wasn't vicious, but it was definitely heart-wrenching.
The two assistants beside him also understood the hidden meaning and automatically translated the Dragon King's evaluation into internet slang.
How old are you, Huang Ke? How many intense battles have you fought? Don't you know how your mental recovery is?
Wasn't he running madly in the direction of a protracted battle?
What are you thinking when you fight a protracted battle with a twenty-something-year-old kid who's known for his insane stamina and knows the Nine Words Formula?
This is what it means to not know yourself, don't know your enemy.
Lu Yan didn't say anything and maintained his usual solemn expression. However, deep down, he understood Huang Ke's approach.
Who would admit defeat to old age?
"But if you don't hold back against Lou Cheng, it's easy for problems to arise," Guo Jie said doubtfully after pondering for a long time.
Chen Qitao looked at the arena and replied without much emotion,
"Hold back when you need to, go in when you need to."
Hearing this, Guo Jie suddenly understood and nodded slightly.
What the Dragon King meant was that under normal circumstances, it was indeed necessary to leave some reserves in case of accidents. However, once an opportunity presented itself, it was necessary to seize it at all costs. It was either one of them or the other. They had to continue and squeeze out every ounce of strength, just like how Lou Cheng overturned the God-Slaying Saber a few months ago.
The Spear King just now was too focused on stability. As a result, he went on for too long and exposed his own problems.
Perhaps this was one of the manifestations of aging …
In another VIP room, the tall Dong Baxian with his hair tied up in a bun was leisurely spinning four walnuts as he listened to Wang Que, Lin Shuyao, and the rest discuss the battle just now.
After a long while, he smiled and sighed,
"There's a dragon in front and a tiger behind."
In front, there was the Dragon King to chase, and behind, there was Lou Cheng!
…
"This, this, this …" Cai Zongming was once again dumbfounded by Lou Cheng's turnaround at the last moment. After a long while, he said, "Your commentator can't find better words to praise him!"
"Wow, so honest!"
"This praise is so noble that it's simple!"
"It's rare to see a commentator without his glib tongue."
"Actually, I feel the same as you!"
…
Seeing these bullet screen comments, Cai Zongming chuckled and changed the topic.
"We're not praising, we're describing with facts!"
"Defeating one super-class is a coincidence. Defeating two is a coincidence. What's the point of defeating a third?"
"It's a genuine level and genuine strength!"
"In the future, when mentioning popular, seeded, and super-class title matches, we'll have to include Lou Cheng!"
…
The audience was dumbfounded. After a while, the bullet screen comments appeared,
"Is this what you mean by no words?"
"He can say so much without words, and even make people's blood boil. If he really had words, wouldn't he be able to ascend to the heavens?"
"His mouth changes the world!"
"Haha, well said. We're witnessing a miracle. We were born late and missed the process of Warrior Sage becoming Warrior Sage. Fortunately, we caught up with Lou Cheng's path!"
"Eh, the brother in front, it doesn't feel right."
"It's his fault for not having a nice nickname. Spread your hands. "
…
In Lou Cheng's fan forum, Yan Xiaoling was so excited that she spilled food on the computer keyboard. After cleaning up, she finally calmed down and said seriously,
"I'll have to think of a nickname for Senpai on the agenda! As a super-class and a future title expert, how can he not have an eye-catching and nice nickname? "
"Brahman" popped up and said,
"No rush, no rush. Let's watch the news first. I'm so happy!"
Damn, I forgot … Yan Xiaoling quickly opened another application and refreshed the page.
Immediately after that, the headlines came into view one by one:
"The new Dragon King has appeared. Where's the new Warrior Sage?"
"The replacement of the old and the new is the unchanging rule of martial arts."
"I can almost see the coming of an era called Lou Cheng."
"This is Lou Cheng in his first year. I can't imagine him in his second or third year!"
Brag, brag, keep on brag! Yan Xiaoling was overjoyed.
While waiting for Lou Cheng's minor surgery to treat the wound on his left shoulder in Connecticut, Yan Zheke was also grinning from ear to ear. She rolled around and changed her position from time to time.
When Lou Cheng was done with his wound and sent a message, she coughed lightly and typed with both hands.
"How do you feel about passing the microphone?"
"Uh, it feels like I'm punching the Nanshan Nursing Home …" Lou Cheng answered honestly. Then, he added, "And this time, the injury is more serious. Even with the help of the Confrontation Formula, it'll take a day or two to recover. In the quarter-finals, my left arm will probably still be inconvenient."
Yan Zheke hurriedly rubbed her head and said,
"Don't worry! In the quarter-finals, except for a few, most of them will more or less have residual injuries. With Coach Yan's luck, we'll definitely get a good draw! "
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